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You glanced down at your phone for the tenth time, thoroughly scanning the address on the text to make sure you read it right. You then stared at the riverbank.

Lightly squeezing the strap of your bo staff case, you searched for a certain dark-haired male.

"[y/n]-chan! Over here."

You pocketed your phone and jogged up to Shinichiro who waved you over.

It was windy that day - the luminescent sun rays kissed your skin, providing generous warmth to you. The river shimmered under the sunlight whilst the grass swayed to the rhythm of the zephyr.

You stood still beside him. "Why did you call me here, Shinichiro-san?"

He sent you a grin. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Again? You said you weren't playing matchmaker, but-"

"It's not like that, dammit!" His exasperated tone made you snicker. "I told you, didn't I? I'm doing this because I believe it would be good for them."

"Good for them to have someone like me around?"

He did a finger gun. "Exactly."

You swung your head around. "But there's nobody here."

"He'll be back soon. I asked him to buy us a snack." Shinichiro patted the spot next to him, and you sat down.

"And here I thought you were gonna leave me with him alone with the excuse to buy us a drink." Shinichiro rubbed his neck at your passive-aggressive behavior.

"Geez, you're still not over that? I'm sorry, okay?" He sighed when you showed him an indifferent expression. "Listen. When I saw Seishu talk to you, I couldn't bring myself to interrupt the conversation! That kid's pretty quiet, so seeing him so talkative towards someone he just met really amazed me."

"Is that so?" You muttered.

"Yes. Promise." A hand landed on your head, his caress was as gentle as the smile plastered on his face. "So, forgive me, please?"

Uh oh. This is bad. Your heart is experiencing what people usually call as "doki doki".

"What's with you, Shinichiro-san?" Forcing a laugh, you tried to dispel the heartfelt moment and turn it light-hearted. "I'm long past that. C'mon, I'm not that petty. I was just teasing you."

Shinichiro gasped. "[y/n]-chan! How could you?"

The intensity of your laughter was so much, it made you keel over. Shinichiro glared at you at first before gradually getting captivated by your laugh and joining along.

"Shinichiro, who's this?"

A deep, inquiring voice pierced through the laughter. Shinichiro glanced at the newcomer and smiled. "Ah, Izana! You're back."

Curious [e/c] irises stared at the boy. He was tanned with insouciant lavender eyes and white hair. The way he stared at you seemed like it was full of disdain.

"Come sit down for a bit."

He complied.

"Izana, remember the person I told you about?"

The tanned boy spared you a brief glance and nodded.

"This is her. [y/n]-chan, meet Izana." Shinichiro urged you to introduce yourself to Izana.

Blinking, you stuttered out, "I-I'm [l/n] [y/n]. Nice to meet you."

Shinichiro did the same to Izana. Gaze averted, he mumbled, "Kurokawa Izana."

A man of few words, huh? Great.

"C'mon, Izana. Don't be like that. She's a good person."

"Shinichiro-san, you're acting like a matchmaker waaay too much." You nudged him.

"I'm not!" Shinichiro huffed but then turned to Izana in concern. "I'm not acting like a matchmaker, am I, Izana?"

Izana spotted you wiggling your brows, telling him to play along. "You are."

Shinichiro's face was filled with dread. "Shit, you think so too? Guys, you're misunderstanding things! I'm not playing matchmaker here, I swear!"

You and Izana glanced at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter.

Shinichiro's jaw went slack. "W-Wha-"

"You just got pranked, bro." You laughed while pointing at his face.

Izana snickered and shed an unapologetic smile when Shinichiro stared at him.

"That is not cool, you two. I was genuinely worried I made you two uncomfortable."

You patted his back comfortingly, your laughter dying down. "Aw, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." You leaned on his shoulder. "We'll stop teasing you so don't cry, alright?"

Shinichiro snapped, "who's crying, huh?"

You laughed even louder.

Izana shook his head with a faint smile. When he saw you giving him a thumbs up behind Shinichiro's back, his smile fell and his previous bored look returned.

Your shoulders slumped. Guess getting along with him won't be as easy as you thought.

The three of you sat side by side on the riverbank, munching on your snacks in peaceful silence. Not a word was uttered, and you suppressed the urge to speak.

But who says you have good self-control?

"Um... This sure is quiet." You muttered as you unwrapped another snack. "So, are we gonna eat in silence for the rest of the day or did you have something else in mind, Shinichiro-san?"

"Dang it, [y/n]-chan. You ruined the atmosphere."

"But Shinichiro-saaan~" You grabbed his arm and shook him. "Surely, you didn't call me over just for this?"

Shinichiro started whistling and looked away, unable to meet your eyes. A sound of disbelief escaped your lips. This guy called you over only to introduce you to this Izana guy and nothing else? Unbelievable.

Your irritation was conveyed through a single huff. Fiddling with the strap of your belonging, you clutched a pebble and hoisted yourself up. After you committed the idyllic scenery of the river to memory, you inhaled deeply and tossed the pebble across the river.

It ricocheted thrice.

"Hey, wanna have a pebble tossing competition?" You suggested, waving a pebble at the two males.

Izana responded first. "I'll pass. That sounds lame."

"Oi, Izana," came Shinichiro's scolding voice.

"That's fine if you think that way." You tossed the pebble again. This time, it bounced five times. "I'll just play by myself."

You continued the process for a while, the intermittent splashes of water as your pebble bounced off the surface filled the air. As you did this, Izana kept watching you.

His eyes were trained on your back. Finally, he spoke. "What's that thing you're carrying?"

"It's a bo staff." You answered without looking back.

"Why did you bring a staff?"

"I came back from practice."

Sensing his frustration towards your curt answers, Shinichiro chimed in. "She does martial arts."

His eyes widened slightly. "Really? What kind?"

Shinichiro shrugged. "She never told me." He glimpsed at Izana whose gaze was now glued to you. "If you're that curious, why don't you ask her yourself?"

Shinichiro's suggestion intensified his stare. All of a sudden, Izana stood up.

"Fight me."

"Shouldn't you be on one knee when you say that, though?" Letting out a distracted hum, you glanced at him. When you were met with his serious gaze, you did a double take. "Oh... You said fight me. I thought you said- you know what, nevermind."

An arm hastily clamped his shoulder. Izana peered over to see Shinichiro's reproachful face. "The hell, Izana? You don't just ask people to fight you, let alone a girl."

"She does martial arts, right? She can fight then."

You made a face at his words. "Dude, what? The heck is with that logic? Do you pick a fight with every single person you meet?"

"I wanna know how strong you are to have piqued Shinichiro's interest."

You quirked a brow. "I didn't pique Shinichiro-san's interest 'cuz I was strong. I just happened to be friends with his brother."

"I knew that." Any trace of boredom was wiped from his face, and was replaced with fury. "But of all his friends, he somehow talks about you the most. There must be something to you that separates you from the others."

"Like my gender?"

Izana hardened his glare. Sheesh... Can't he take a joke?

"I'm not fighting you. I didn't practice martial arts solely to fight." You laughed nervously, picking up another pebble and throwing it.

"Then..." His lips curved up into a smile, crazed and overflowing with malice. "I'll make you."

Grass.

He felt the patch of grass tickling his palms as he laid on the ground.

What did you do?

He remembered dashing towards you with a raised fist, but somehow you managed to seize it mid-air and shove him back while he was recoiling from shock.

Taking out a chocolate bar from your pocket, you tore the wrapper open and put the snack into his mouth.

"Eat a Snickers, man. You're not you when you're hungry." You laughed at his dumbfounded face.

What happened afterwards was a blur to Izana. The only thing he remembered that day was his defeat, the sweet taste of chocolate and your laugh.

«────── « ➴ » ──────»

"He asked me if I was five, and so I said yes."

"Then, what happened?"

"I added, ‘five inches deep into your mom’, and he absolutely lost it!"

Izana snickered at your story, his laugh getting louder when he heard you laughing at your own words whilst he patted your head in an approval.

"You showed him good, [n/n]."

"I did, didn't I? I can't believe he made fun of me for putting Hello Kitty stickers on my notebook. It wasn't any of his business." You rolled your eyes. "Plus, he has poor taste. Who doesn't like Hello Kitty?"

Izana chuckled as you launched into a tangent about your day, about the mishaps you had and the screw-ups of your peers and teachers. No matter how often he did this or how long you talked for, he never got bored.

In fact, it was rejuvenating.

Knowing that someone is eager to share their day with you and gaze at you with profound enthusiasm.

But that wasn't the best part.

The best part about this whole thing is getting to hear your laugh.

Over the past few months, he's gotten acquainted with you as per Shinichiro's request. He initially reminded himself that it was only to make Shinichiro happy, but the more time he spent with you, he found himself not minding the idea of making you happy.

He's gotten used to your peppy attitude and jokes. Your laugh was annoying at first, but soon, it became tolerable.

And now, he couldn't get enough of it.

You laugh restored what little sanity he has left. Your pure, boisterous, uncontrolled laugh.

"Oh yeah, I heard that there'll be a discount for ice cream in this one convenient store. I forgot the details; I'll go check it out later." You clasped your hands behind your back and smiled up at the male. "So, what do you say we grab ice cream that day?"

Izana hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know, [n/n]."

"Oh, c'mon. It's not like you have anything to do. Might as well grab some ice cream with me." You scrunched up your face distastefully.

Izana fought back a smile. "Eh~ Well..."

"Izanaaa~ just say yes!"

"Fine, fine! I'll go! Stop pulling me– you're wrinkling my shirt."

Even if you asked him to go somewhere he didn't like, he would still say yes. Anything to see that smile on your face.

"Make sure you invite Kakucho-kun, too. I don't want to leave him out."

Izana quelled a groan and nodded. He very much preferred going with you alone.

"Invite me to what?"

You and Izana turned your head to the source of voice, coming face-to-face with a built figure and a face marred with a badass scar.

"Kakucho-kun! You sure have great timing. Haha... um, so there's gonna be this..."

Lavender eyes fixated on your figure, observing every little idiosyncratic movements you made as you animatedly talk to Kakucho. How are you bubbly? How can you keep that smile on your face despite the hardship you might have faced? He wished to ask these things to you – you made being happy look so easy. But then again, it probably is.

To him, happiness is being with you and Shinichiro.

"...so, I was thinking, maybe you'd wanna join? Well, you should. After all, it is ice cream were talking about."

Kakucho chuckled nervously. "I don't mind, but..."

"Great! It's settled! I'll keep you two updated!"

Kakucho rubbed his head. "Is it really okay for me to go?"

"Why is it not okay for you to go?" You countered with narrowed eyes.

"I-If it's alright with you, then okay."

You smacked his shoulder, laughing, unknowingly drawing Izana closer to you by the sound of your laugh alone.

Yeah.

Izana was happy. He didn't want this happiness to go away.

"Ne, [n/n], why don't we go somewhere while you're here?" Izana simpered, snaking his arm around yours. "We can go to the arcade if you want."

"Arcade? Sure! I haven't gone there in a while." You hugged his arm back, tightening it unconsciously when you pictured the lively atmosphere of the arcade – rows of buzzing machines, the glaring bright lights, the clinking noises of coins, and the crowd of visitors seeking fun. "Let's play DDR! I'm a pro at that! Trust me, I'll beat you both in that game!"

Kakucho shook his head with a smile of endearment. "You're getting cocky, [y/n]."

"And rightfully so. You should see how good I am at the game." You tugged Kakucho's shirt, pulling him along.

"Someone's fired up." Kakucho chuckled, discreetly sharing a look with Izana.

"In that case, we should hurry to the arcade. We wouldn't want to make her wait any longer, do we?"

Izana untangled his arm from yours and grabbed your wrist. Without looking back, without an ounce of care, he ran, hand in hand with you.

"Whoa, hey– Izana, why are you running?"

The white-haired male shed a brilliant smile, one brimming with happiness that you couldn't help but be affected by it.

"No reason~"

"You're weird!" You laughed.

"H-Hey, don't leave me behind!"

"Come on, Kakucho-kun!" You reached out a hand to him, and the male grasped it.

Three kids running down the street, hand in hand, spouting laughter and exclamation of joy on a bright, sunny day.

They were carefree.

They were happy.

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

『ɑ/ղ: ✎ • • •』

buckle up, besties

i have plans for izana *evil cackling*

that aside, let us take a moment to appreciate kakucho and the shit he puts up with